Now, you get to see what I can do
If you look at most blogs, they contain pictures of people around either their a. friends, or b. family at some function. While this may be of interest to a. anthropologists, b. sociologists, or if their blogs are up in 50 years, c. historians and d. descendants, pretty much most people are not interested in pictures of rather ordinary people doing rather ordinary things. However, as I have been ranting for a month, I figure it is time for me to show what I can do. I will show how I designed my rose bed.
Here is a back view of my house. Along the side of my fence is my rose bed. They are red-another color-red-another color etc. On each end is a "rose tree". Most of the reds are one variety; I forget which one. A couple are the "Ronald Reagan" variety (how appropriate for me!). I purchased most of the bushes at Flower World in Snohomish (alright, the Maltby area - greater Snohomish is a huge area!) The mess in the lawn that you see to the right is when my neighbor decided to design a rockery and ran over the lawn with a backhoe!
When I first moved to my house, the prior owner was incredibly lazy - he only mowed his lawn maybe a total of ten times over four years! He also didn't clean the carpets and there were marks all over the walls - for a four-year old house! But I was planning to repaint and clean the carpets, so this did not deter me - it just meant I got the house cheaper. However, he never watered the lawn, so where you see the bed, next to the fence, that grass was spotty, so I decided to put a rose bed there - I got that idea from my friends the Cason's, three brothers who bought a house with a lot of roses (like the prior owner here, they don't do any yardwork, either!)
When most landscapers design beds, they merely remove the grass, throw in dirt, and plant the plants. A recipe for disaster. They never see their result. What happens is the soil is too shallow, there is no drainage, and the grass never dies - it keeps coming back in huge clumps of weeds. There is quite a bit of work to do. That is because they often have a fear of "polluting the environment" by using roundup. If you do not use a bit now, someone else will use huge quantities of it later to kill those weeds. They do not come back to do the maintenance.
Thus, the first thing I had to do was kill the grass with roundup. That I did. The next thing I did was to remove the grass. It took about five loads using a 90-gallon barrell (so it would be light enough for the yard waste people to haul away). Then, when that was gone, I used caseron on the affected area. Grass hates caseron, because it will make sure it will not come back. And it worked!
Once the caseron had really worked it's way into the soil, I then threw gypsum down (since the "soil" is actually pure clay less than 1" deep). And some compost. And started mixing it in. Then, in May 2004, I bought the blocks and put the wall together. I used mason cement on top. However, since most beds have poor drainage, I put down 1 1/2" pvc pipe in a few places, below the bricks, to allow for water to get out. Once this was done, I dug a trench right next to the wall and filled it with drain rock. After that, I put down newspaper, and covered that with soil.
During this time, I added compost, topsoil, gymsum, lime, and kept mixing it in with a hoe (that's garden hoe, you sick perverts!). That was so I could get good soil about another 2-3" down. At the same time, I was careful not to disturb the drain that I built by hitting the dirt with the newspaper (the newspaper is so dirt hardens over the rock - it will dissolve in about one year). Thus, I did not fill it for one year, as I was trying to get the most loamy dirt available. In the meantime, I had pressure-washed - then stained - the fence you see in behind it.
I kept adding soil and compost throughout the winter, tilling it in. In the spring of 2005, I got two rolls of aluminum sheeting. This is to protect the fence from rotting when I put the dirt in. I tacked this to the fence, so that it was just above the soil line. Then, I went out, purchased steer manuer, and several truck loads of soil, plus lime. It was a rich mulch, or a rich compost. I filled it, and used the smallest rototiller I could to till the soil, and I got it as deep as possible so as not to disturb the drain. I think I got four or five yards of this stuff total.
I have thrown rose food around the roses as recommended. However, since the soil is so rich, it is not that necessary - only so for good blooms. The key to good gardening is good soil, which I took the time to do. Also, water. I put soaker hoses around each plant, as this is the best way to water roses (plus a filter and pressure regulator).
I really like roses, and have them in other areas of my yard. I also figure that chicks like them, too!
In the front of this bed, I have planted tulip bulbs
Thus, that is my expose on gardening for this week. As you can see, I have been too lazy to remove the flags from the plants - but my neighbors love the plants anyway. I have more ideas for this area, and I have other gardening ideas, too - I will share them with you as they come to fruition (and bloom).
Most landscapers merely remove the grass, build the wall, and throw in dirt. They avoid all the other steps. If I had hired a professional, it would have resulted in a. a rotted fence, b. poor drainage, c. weeds, and d. lack of root growth (because it would have been shallow). And I would have had stunted plants, maybe some that rotted!
So, if you come away from a lesson today, just remember this - good gardening requires good preparation, and especially, good soil.
Here is a back view of my house. Along the side of my fence is my rose bed. They are red-another color-red-another color etc. On each end is a "rose tree". Most of the reds are one variety; I forget which one. A couple are the "Ronald Reagan" variety (how appropriate for me!). I purchased most of the bushes at Flower World in Snohomish (alright, the Maltby area - greater Snohomish is a huge area!) The mess in the lawn that you see to the right is when my neighbor decided to design a rockery and ran over the lawn with a backhoe!
When I first moved to my house, the prior owner was incredibly lazy - he only mowed his lawn maybe a total of ten times over four years! He also didn't clean the carpets and there were marks all over the walls - for a four-year old house! But I was planning to repaint and clean the carpets, so this did not deter me - it just meant I got the house cheaper. However, he never watered the lawn, so where you see the bed, next to the fence, that grass was spotty, so I decided to put a rose bed there - I got that idea from my friends the Cason's, three brothers who bought a house with a lot of roses (like the prior owner here, they don't do any yardwork, either!)
When most landscapers design beds, they merely remove the grass, throw in dirt, and plant the plants. A recipe for disaster. They never see their result. What happens is the soil is too shallow, there is no drainage, and the grass never dies - it keeps coming back in huge clumps of weeds. There is quite a bit of work to do. That is because they often have a fear of "polluting the environment" by using roundup. If you do not use a bit now, someone else will use huge quantities of it later to kill those weeds. They do not come back to do the maintenance.
Thus, the first thing I had to do was kill the grass with roundup. That I did. The next thing I did was to remove the grass. It took about five loads using a 90-gallon barrell (so it would be light enough for the yard waste people to haul away). Then, when that was gone, I used caseron on the affected area. Grass hates caseron, because it will make sure it will not come back. And it worked!
Once the caseron had really worked it's way into the soil, I then threw gypsum down (since the "soil" is actually pure clay less than 1" deep). And some compost. And started mixing it in. Then, in May 2004, I bought the blocks and put the wall together. I used mason cement on top. However, since most beds have poor drainage, I put down 1 1/2" pvc pipe in a few places, below the bricks, to allow for water to get out. Once this was done, I dug a trench right next to the wall and filled it with drain rock. After that, I put down newspaper, and covered that with soil.
During this time, I added compost, topsoil, gymsum, lime, and kept mixing it in with a hoe (that's garden hoe, you sick perverts!). That was so I could get good soil about another 2-3" down. At the same time, I was careful not to disturb the drain that I built by hitting the dirt with the newspaper (the newspaper is so dirt hardens over the rock - it will dissolve in about one year). Thus, I did not fill it for one year, as I was trying to get the most loamy dirt available. In the meantime, I had pressure-washed - then stained - the fence you see in behind it.
I kept adding soil and compost throughout the winter, tilling it in. In the spring of 2005, I got two rolls of aluminum sheeting. This is to protect the fence from rotting when I put the dirt in. I tacked this to the fence, so that it was just above the soil line. Then, I went out, purchased steer manuer, and several truck loads of soil, plus lime. It was a rich mulch, or a rich compost. I filled it, and used the smallest rototiller I could to till the soil, and I got it as deep as possible so as not to disturb the drain. I think I got four or five yards of this stuff total.
That still did not mean I was ready to plant. I had to wait another month for the dirt to settle somewhat. When it did, I bought one or two more truck loads of soil, and this time, I used a hoe. The soil was so loamy and soft, it was easy to do. Since the aluminum is ugly, I used cheap gray bricks to cover it up. Then, in early July 2005, I purchased my plants. I used that root growth stimulator in each hole. I planted these by the moonlight, and it might help out. Around each plant, I put SuperPhosphate, to encourage root growth.
I have thrown rose food around the roses as recommended. However, since the soil is so rich, it is not that necessary - only so for good blooms. The key to good gardening is good soil, which I took the time to do. Also, water. I put soaker hoses around each plant, as this is the best way to water roses (plus a filter and pressure regulator).
I really like roses, and have them in other areas of my yard. I also figure that chicks like them, too!
In the front of this bed, I have planted tulip bulbs
Thus, that is my expose on gardening for this week. As you can see, I have been too lazy to remove the flags from the plants - but my neighbors love the plants anyway. I have more ideas for this area, and I have other gardening ideas, too - I will share them with you as they come to fruition (and bloom).
Most landscapers merely remove the grass, build the wall, and throw in dirt. They avoid all the other steps. If I had hired a professional, it would have resulted in a. a rotted fence, b. poor drainage, c. weeds, and d. lack of root growth (because it would have been shallow). And I would have had stunted plants, maybe some that rotted!
So, if you come away from a lesson today, just remember this - good gardening requires good preparation, and especially, good soil.
posted by EricMatthew at 12:41 AM
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